Acushnet

Acushnet may refer to some locations in the United States:

Also, the first whaling ship on which Herman Melville served was the Acushnet.

Acushnet River

Coordinates: 41°40′51″N 70°55′3″W / 41.68083°N 70.91750°W / 41.68083; -70.91750

The Acushnet River is the largest river, 8.6 miles (13.8 km) long, flowing into Buzzards Bay in southeastern Massachusetts, in the United States. The name "Acushnet" comes from the Wampanoag or Algonquian word, "Cushnea", meaning "as far as the waters", a word that was used by the original owners of the land in describing the extent of the parcel they intended to sell to the English settlers from the nearby Plimouth colony. Quite naturally, the English mistook "Cushnea" for a fixed placename or the name of a specific river.

Path of the river

The source of the Acushnet River is Long Pond in Lakeville, Massachusetts. The root tributary, Squam Brook, flows out of Long Pond and through the settlement called Freetown before it fills the New Bedford Reservoir in the town of Acushnet. From the reservoir, the river continues southward, forming the dividing-line between Acushnet and the city of New Bedford. Then it divides New Bedford, on its western bank, from Fairhaven, on its eastern bank, before spilling into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean.